ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030003
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: COLIN J. BROWN
FOR THOSE of you who were born before the Second World War, (I realize that means so very few of you), the following may be of interest.
We are the survivors - consider the changes we have witnessed.
We were born before cable television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox's, plastics, contact lenses, videos, computers and The Pill.
We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ball point pens; before panty hose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes - and before man walked on the moon.
We got married first and then lived together; how quaint can we be?
In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of." Designer jeans were scheming girls named Jean or Jeanne, and having a meaningful relationship meant getting along well with our cousins.
We were before househusbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual careers and commuter marriages. We never heard of FM radios, tape recorders, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt or guys wearing earrings. For us, time-sharing meant togetherness, not a holiday apartment. A chip meant a piece of wood, and hardware and software were not even words.
We hit the scene when there was Woolworth's, where you bought things for 5 cents and 10 cents. Soda fountains were the meeting place, not the disco. For 5 cents, you could take a trolley ride, make a phone call, buy enough stamps to mail a letter and two postcards. You could buy a new car for $150, but who could afford one? A pity, as gas was only 15 cents a gallon.
In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable. Grass was mowed. Pop was a drink. Pot was something you cooked in. Rock music was a lullaby and aids were helpers.
We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes was discovered, but we were way before the sex change. We made do with what we had. We were the last generation that was so stupid as to think you needed a husband to have a baby.
No wonder we are so confused and there is such a generation gap today.
But we survived - what better reason to celebrate?
Colin J. Brown of Roanoke is a quality engineer for G.E. Drive Systems in Salem.
LENGTH: Short : 48 linesby CNB